World Music for Equal Dignity (WMusicED)

Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) is primarily grounded in academic work. However, we wish to bring academic work into "real life" as well. Our research focuses on topics such as dignity (with humiliation as its violation), or, more precisely, on respect for equal dignity for all human beings in the world. This is not only our research topic, however, but also our core value, in line with Article 1 of the Human Rights Declaration that states that every human being is born with equal dignity (that ought not be humiliated). We agree with Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, who advocates the building of bridges from academia as follows, "I have always believed that good scholarship can be relevant and consequential for public policy. It is possible to affect public policy without being an advocate; to be passionate about peace without losing analytical rigor; to be moved by what is just while conceding that no one has a monopoly on justice." We would like to add that we believe that good scholarship can be relevant and consequential not only for public policy, but for raising awareness in general.

Our World Music for Equal Dignity project is part of our quest to build bridges from social science to other areas of life. When we look around today, many listen to more or less the same music, mostly originating in the West. We, the HumanDHS group, believe that diverse cultural traditions should receive more respect and attention, which, in the case of music, means that the diverse cultural heritage in music that we find around the world should be valued more and made more visible in day-to-day life.

The Mahalohalo Kolintang Ensemble
Wayland Quintero and Sheila, Bernard Ellorin, and Leila Lagundino generously played at our 13th Annual HumanDHS Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. See pictures!

Ragnhild S. Nilsen - Arctic Queen

Lyrics of Resistance: Vidya Shah
For 36-year-old musician Vidya Shah, coming out with the album Hum Sab-Celebrating Cultures of Resistance is where her love for music meets her calling for social issues and interest in advocacy. She tells Deepika Khatri about how it came about. How is Hum Sab relevant now? The 80s and 90s saw a lot of political rallies and movements. The poetry of those words is still alive today in the restlessness of the youth and their struggle for change. This album gives a new tune to those lyrics of resistance. I want it to permeate people’s consciousness, even if they are just humming to the music and don’t immediately grasp the lyrics. Where did the inspiration for the album come? I spent a year in Jhabua, a tribal district of Madhya Pradesh in the mid 90s, working with women and children and documenting their oral tradition. It made me introspective and I’ve wanted to put an album together ever since. The songs on this album draw from that experience, reflecting different cultures, whether it’s a song in Bhilali, Do Awazein for which Javed Akhtar wrote the lyrics or Ham Hain Iskey Maalik, written during the 1857 war of independence.

Christen Lien
Using guitar effects and a looping machine, classically trained violist Christen Lien performs original compositions that are a beautiful mixture of East and West, classical and postmodern, and acoustic and electronic. Lien's debut album is called Vol. I: Battle Cry, and it reflects a twenty-four year journey of mastering, then challenging and expanding classical Viola expression. Spontaneously creating then incorporating layers of live effects, Lien paints music with guitar effect pedals, live looping, melodic mixing and expressive performance.
Linda Hartling, Rick Slaven, and Evelin Lindner had the chance to listen to Christen Lien at the "Creating Change Together" 2009 Hollyhock Summer Gathering, July 26 - 31, 2009, Cortes Island, B.C., Canada. Please click here for photos!

Firekeepers
A documentary film, part of a larger research on current Sami artistic and poetic expressions and inter-culturality. ADJÁGAS in Sami languages means "a state between sleep and awakening". It's the moment where you can have a vision about a different truth in the real surrounding the Self. Adjágas is also a musical project. Two young performers of yoik, Sara Marielle Gaup og Lawra Somby come together through a creative musical project; bringing the yoiking Sami tradition into the international musical scene. They have different lives styles and concerns, especially in relating to what it means to be a young artist with an indigenous background . They are working their way into the commercial music industry too. Yoik could be seen as a way of performing nature as well as people, animals and stories. But even more, as a means to mimicring the hi-stories that are embedded in the landscape and the relations that the landscape brings about. Our film explore also what in the waves of the past is worth struggling for understanding - and how the act of creatively yoiking brings together everyday life, politics and spirituality and becomes a language healing the pain from the history of the colonial past.

Jordi Savall & Montserrat Figueras
The Catalan musician Jordi Savall and his wife, the soprano Montserrat Figueras, have been named UNESCO “Artists for Peace” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an honour they share with other artists such as the flamenco dancer Joaquín Cortés, the Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil, María de Medeiros and the Chinese actress Gong Li.

Trio Mediaeval (Linn Andrea Fuglseth, Anna Maria Friman, Torunn Østrem Ossum)
Founded in Oslo in 1997, trio mediaeval has developed three distinct strands of repertoire: polyphonic medieval music from England and France, contemporary works and Norwegian medieval ballads and songs. The group's initial phase was inspired by intense periods of work at the Hilliard Summer Festival in England and Germany, and subsequently with Linda Hirst and John Potter.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Hvorostovsky remains deeply committed to introducing Russian music to audiences around the world and retains strong musical and personal contacts with Russia. He was the first opera singer to give a solo concert with orchestra and chorus on Red Square in Moscow; the concert was televised in over 25 countries. In 2005, Hvorostovsky gave an historic tour throughout the cities of Russia at the invitation of President Putin, singing to crowds of hundreds of thousands of people to commemorate the soldiers of the Second World War. The tour stretched from Moscow and St Petersburg, to Krasnoyask, Samara, Omsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo. Dmitri now tours the cities of Russia on an annual basis, often to stadium-size audiences...
Please read more at http://www.hvorostovsky.com/english/index.shtml.

World Culture Open Centers
World Culture Open Centers (WCO Centers) facilitate the growth and development of individuals and communities by offering free space for the practice of creative arts, holistic wellbeing and humanitarian service. The Centers provide a platform for users to create, explore, learn and contribute their knowledge and skills in an environment of harmonious cultural exchange. The Centers are offered free of charge to users in order to foster a movement of sharing and a sense of ownership among members of the WCO community.
See also similar initiatives: www.kvopencenter.org and www.myspace.com/manhattanwcocenter !

Ani: Singing for the Soul of Islam
Please read more at http://www.a-n-i.net/.
See also "When Making Music, Faith Is Incidental" by Ani Zonneveld: In this fourth article in the series on joint Muslim-Western business ventures, Ani Zonneveld, a singer, songwriter and president of Muslims for Progressive Values, describes some of the personal connections that develop between songwriter and artist, which help to create music that is “meaningful and multi-layered”. Zonneveld writes that their “willingness to listen to … diverse narratives nurtures an organic creative process” (Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 20 November 2007).

Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director/choreographer and creator of new opera, music theater works, films and installations. A pioneer in what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance." Monk creates works that thrive at the intersection of music and movement, image and object, light and sound in an effort to discover and weave together new modes of perception. Her groundbreaking exploration of the voice as an instrument, as an eloquent language in and of itself, expands the boundaries of musical composition, creating landscapes of sound that unearth feelings, energies, and memories for which we have no words. She has alternately been proclaimed as a "magician of the voice" and "one of America’s coolest composers." During a career that spans more than 40 years she has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major creative force in the performing arts...
please read more at http://www.meredithmonk.org/monk/index.html.

Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer
Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer teaches rockstars and opera singers who need more grounding, actors who want to learn how to scream, jazz singers who need a clearer expression, musicians who wish to play better, and people who, in one way or another, feel they need to develop their voice or themselves.

"We Are One" - "World Anthem" of Love and Peace by Kevin Reid
200 singers, adults and children from many countries, participated to harmonize their
voices in joy and celebration:

As I look into my brother's eyes
Holiness is what I recognize
I see the truth in everyone
Let us stand and live as one
United everywhere
With love replacing fear

We are one, we are one
It's the truth of who we are
Everywhere let the flag of love unfurl
In our hearts lies the truth
Of the unity of life
We are one and the truth of life is love

As I look into my sister's eyes
Immortality is what I find
From the eternal we have come
Let us live in peace as one
Coming together everywhere
It's time for love to vanquish fear

We are one, we are one
It's the truth of who we are
Everywhere let the flag of love unfurl
In our hearts lies the truth
Of the unity in life
We are one and the truth of life is love

British Bhangra
British Bhangra is a genre of popular music that fuses Punjabi beats, music and lyrics, UK pop, RnB, reggae and other world sounds. Its history in Britain dates back to the immediate post-war period when migrants from the Punjab, India, resettled their lives and homes in the UK. In the post-00s the music can now be heard across the soundscapes of multicultural cities around the globe, to mainstream fashion and advertising, and even in the songs and music of Bollywood films. British Bhangras centres of music industry are increasingly located in Birmingham and London, from where its musical products are distributed and performed internationally. Yet, this recent visibility is also marked by a history of cultural racism, community politics and a music and cultural industry that has struggled to stake its place in British popular culture.

Paul Potts
A very hands-on example of the healing that is entailed when a person comes out of bullying and humiliation, out of feeling insignificant and a nobody, into dignity, is the recent emergence of Paul Potts as a singer. Watch him on YouTube, see how the faces of the jury members change from skepticism to astonishment, then to awe and wonderment. Watch how the singer’s voice and face expresses a mixture of love and warm humility. Read the blogs and see how people appreciate Potts’s ability to convey something that is beyond this Earth, and how lacking technical proficiency or less than comme-il-faut outfit is of no importance. He does not sing for money and not even for the love of singing – he seems to have a love relationship with beauty that is so majestic that it seems to come from outer space and at the same time from the deep wisdom of his soul that transcends pain through this beauty.
See "Paul Potts reveals he considered suicide," and see, for example, this blog at http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/06/paul-potts.html:
"I did listen to Pavarotti sing Nessun Dorma and was not moved, in fact I shut if off as he and his singing was boring. No emotion. As for technical defects of Paul Potts singing... who cares? His performance made the hairs on my back stand up... Paul Potts may start a new genre of music which is long overdue..."
YouTube is overflowing of Paul Potts, see, among others:
First, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA !
Then see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Pv-0vpxSc
Then see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbzRJqe1X-o
Finally see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OvFbMSNw2c .
And read about his coming out of humiliation into dignity.

Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology, formerly comparative musicology, is cultural musicology or the study of music in its cultural context. Formed from the Greek words ethnos (nation) and mousike (music), it can be considered the anthropology or ethnography of music. Jeff Todd Titon has called it the study of "people making music". It is often thought of as a study of non-Western musics, but can include the study of Western music from an anthropological perspective. Nettl (1983) believes it is a product of Western thinking, proclaiming "ethnomusicology as western culture knows it is actually a western phenomenon"...
Please read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomusicology.
See also The Society for Ethnomusicology.
See also Aesthetic Realism: A New Foundation for Interdisciplinary Musicology.
See also the Smithsonian Global Sound Library.

The First Emperor: 1+1=1!
"Where is the music that can harmonize heaven, earth, and man?" This is the question posed by the title character of Tan Dun's The First Emperor, which has its world premiere at the Met this month [December 2006]. It's a question that the composer asked himself as he worked on the score to the epic new work, which marries Eastern and Western musical elements in a tricky compositional balancing act. "It's not about being Chinese or Western, about being old or new," Tan Dun explains. "My favorite formula now is 1+1=1."
Please read more on http://www.metoperafamily.org/.
...
The excitement surrounding the production is similarly international. A world premiere opera at the Met generates tremendous interest here, and in China, where Zhang Yimou is a kind of rock star, the momentous event is a source of overwhelming national pride. "The Metropolitan Opera made a bold and significant move in commissioning a project where the majority of the creative team is made up of Chinese artists," Zhang Yimou attests. "It is truly a rare occasion."
Please read more on http://www.metoperafamily.org/.

Anna Dagmar: Can We Be Old Friends
New York city based pianist and songwriter Anna Dagmar created the song of peace "Can We Be Old Friends," where the last two enemy soldiers left standing decide not to kill each other.

Delhi Gharana


December 9, 2007, Ikhlaq's House Concert! Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Ustad Imdad Hussain Hasshmi is part of the centuries old musical lineage of Delhi Gharana (family of musicians from Delhi who play with a unique "Delhi" style); passing the culturally-rich, artistic wealth from father to son (though women are also sometimes encouraged to learn) he is part of a chain of musicians dedicated to keeping their unique tradition alive throughout the ages.

Ustad Imdad Hussain has been recognized for his musical achievement in his lifetime by his government, as he was employed with Pakistan Radio (the stalwart of cultural preservation and dissemination) from the age of 16 until retirement, and was sent around the world as an ambassador of Pakistani culture and art. While he has trained numerous students, including his son and his grand nephew (now age 14), rigorously, there is still a part of the musical lineage that may be lost from one generation to the next, and a type of inevitable modification of style as time goes by and culture changes and "modernizes." Ustad Imdad Hussain's knowledge of the ancient system of music, which was originally valued equally for its alchemist as aesthetic properties, is possibly unparalleled by any living artists in Pakistan.

The intrinsic value of the traditional arts, however, currently gives way to the rapidly modernizing/globalizing Pakistani culture. Once lost, the treasure and cultural expression that non-written music is, the legacy cannot be recreated. It seems that there is widespread apathy towards the slow loss of learned classical artists (and hence the oral tradition itself), and a lack of proper appreciation for the tradition of classical music – in great part due to lack of knowledge about it, as well as changing cultural trends due to factors such as religious conservatism and an unbalanced globally-influenced economy and "modernization."

His son is Ikhlaq Hussain Khan , who is a hugely talented and creative musician and a virtuoso sitar player. He hails from the centuries old Delhi Gharana. He was taught by his father Ustad Imdad Hussain, an internationally known sitar master and teacher. Settled in the States, he tours extensively and has performed at MIT, Harvard U, Boston TV, to name a few.
Ikhlaq is one of the select group of South Asian musicians who have been given a permanent residency status (green card) by INS on the basis of being an outstanding artist of international status. He is the music director of the Rajaf Quartet, which includes also Anna Dagmar-Piano, Premik Russell Tubbs-Sax, Naren Budahkar/Feroze Khan-Tabla.

Portuguese Fado (saudade!)
Fado (translated as destiny or fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. It is characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade, a word with no accurate English translation. (It is a kind of longing, and conveys a complex mixture of mainly nostalgia, but also sadness, pain, happiness and love). Some enthusiasts claim that Fado's origins are a mixture of African slave rhythms with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence. There are two main varieties of fado, namely those of the cities of Lisbon and Coimbra. The Lisbon style is the most popular, while Coimbra's is the more refined style. Modern fado is popular in Portugal, and has produced many renowned musicians. Main stream fado performances during the 20th century included only a singer, a Portuguese guitar player and a classical guitar player but more recent settings range from singer and string quartet to full orchestra.
Amália Rodrigues introduced the most well-known variety of fado, while Dulce Pontes mixed it with popular and traditional Portuguese music.
Dulce Pontes is a Portuguese musician, songwriter and singer who writes and performs in many music styles, including pop, folk and classical music. She usually defines herself as a world music artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban folk music called fado. Blessed with a powerful and dramatic voice, she is one of the most famous and respected Portuguese artists. See here her songs.
Cesaria Evora aka Cize for her friends, was born on August 27th, 1941 in Mindelo, Cape Verde. With her great voice and stunning looks she soon attracted attention, but her hopes to become a professional singer were yet to be fulfilled. The singer Bana and a Cape Verde women's association respectively invited her to record in Lisbon but not one single producer showed any interest. In 1988 a young frenchman of Cape Verde blood, Josè Da Silva offered her to come to Paris to record an album. She was 47 at the time and had nothing to loose, she had never been to Paris before, so she agreed. See here some of her songs.

Sami Yoik
Yoik, Joik or juoiggus is a traditional Sami form of song. Originally, yoik referred to only one of several Sami singing styles, but in English the word is often used to refer to all types of traditional Sami singing. Its sound is comparable to the traditional chanting of some American Indian cultures. Each yoik is meant to reflect a person or place. This does not mean that it is a song about the person or place, but that the yoiker is attempting to transfer "the essence" of that person or place into song - one yoiks their friend, not about their friend. It usually has short lyrics or no lyrics at all. This type of song can be deeply personal or spiritual in nature. Improvisation is not unusual. There are other forms of yoik (in the expanded sense of the word) that have a more epic type of lyrics. In northern Sami areas, most yoiks are personal, that is, tied to a specific person. A yoik is often made for a person at the time they are born. It has traditionally been sung a capella, sometimes accompanied by a drum. It is sometimes set to other instruments. The tonality of yoik is mostly pentatonic, but yoikers are at liberty to use any tones they please.
Please see Folk Bands & Musicians online.

Alexander Patrut
Alexander Patrut has kindly set out to create our first HumanDHS song! We hope that others will create more songs that express the idea of equal dignity (and a world without humiliation)!

Gharnati (Arabic for Granada)
Gharnati (Arabic for Granada) is one of the major Andalusian musical styles, migrated from Granada, Spain, to Morocco in the 15th century. Its roots lie in the diverse music schools of medieval Andalusia, where the Arab-Andalusian musical style originally developed some 800 years earlier.Gharnati was preserved by the Tlemceni families and other communities that fled Spain to settle in several places, Morocco, especially in Fes.
Amina Alaoui is a scholar of philology, linguistics, and dance, and a prominent exponent of the ancient music style gharnati. She was born in 1964 to a traditional Fassi family, and has pursued an eclectic musical path that lead her to work with musicians from medieval, Persian, and flamenco musical backgrounds. She is accompanied in many of concerts by the ensemble of Ahmed Piro, a native of Rabat who is considered one of the great Arab-Andalusian musicians.

Nadja Räss
Nadja Räss, with her colleagues, has embarked on a "Stimmreise," a journey of voice with voice. She has studied classical music, with a particular interest in the earliest folk music, namely textless vocal music, the earliest folk music, in Switzerland represented by "Jodeln," which she presents in innovative and authentic ways. She also connects this heritage with voice traditions in other parts of the world, for example, the use of voice in Lappland. Please see here some pictures from her performance at the 2006 SBAP Award for Applied Psychology.

Nadja wrote (23rd October 2006): So gibt es vielleicht eines Tags auch eine internationale Austauschkette für traditionelle Volksmelodien! Ich beschäftige mich vorwiegend mit den traditionellen Naturjodeln der Schweiz, welche keinen Text haben, und als ursprünglichste Form der "Volksmusik" gelten. So gibt es auch in anderen Ländern solche vokalen, textlosen Melodien und mehr solche kennenzulernen wäre toll! ...
Was hältst du von einen Aufruf zum Austausch von solchen traditionellen Melodien?

Please, if you have traditional melodies, let us exchange them!


After the SBAP prize: Everybody mingles and Nadja Räss sings. Please click on the picture to see more photos.

World Music for Equal Dignity (WMusicED)

Links

Main Sections